The  person  charging  this  material  is  re- 
sponsible for  its  return  on  or  before  the 
Latest  Date  stamped  below. 

Theft,  mutilation,  and  underlining  of  books 
are  reasons  for  disciplinary  action  and  may 
result  in  dismissal  from  the  University. 


THE  CRUCIAL  TEST 


OF  THE 


Public  School  System. 


Br  ANDREW  S.  DRAPER,  LL.  D., 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Abstract  of  an  Address  Delivered  in  Boston  March  25, 
1897,  at  the  Request  of  the  Woman's 
Education  Association, 

■Jn 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 

Class  Book  Volume 


KuSK 


THE  CRUCIAL  TEST  OF  THE  PUBLIC 
SCHOOL  SYSTEM. 


The  public  school  system  is  nearer  the  breaking 
point  in  the  large  cities  than  it  has  ever  been  before 
anywhere  in  the  country  or  at  any  time  in  its  history. 
The  question  is  up  whether  the  schools  shall  cease  to 
be  the  schools  of  all  the  people  of  the  great  cities,  and 
a negative  decision  upon  that  question  would  open 
the  dyke  which  is  the  security  of  the  public  educa- 
tional system  of  the  country. 

Is  my  statement  unwarrantably  strong?  Let  us 
discuss  that  question  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
citizen.  There  is  a public  school  within  reach  of 
every  home  in  your  city.  All  residents,  with  or 
without  children,  have  to  support  it.  It  is  wholly 
crWanaged  by  public  authority.  Education  is  com- 
.pulsory.  Having  children,  you  must  send  them  to 
this  school  regardless  of  its  defects,  or  pay  twice  for 
the  privilege  of  sending  them  to  a private  one  which 
you  think  competent  to:  teach  them,  if  such  an  one 
can  be  found.  This  school  is  to  be  tested  by  trial. 
Your  children  commence  attendance.  In  a little 
time  you  find  that  attendance  cannot  be  regular  and 
long-continued  without  the  impairment  of  health. 
Investigation  shows  that  there  is  reason  enough  for 
this.  There  is  not  enough  breathing  space  and  sun- 
light. There  is  too  close  contact  with  other  children 
who  are  unclean.  The  hygienic  conditions  are  bad. 
It  is  a struggle  between  a little  life  and  unhealthful 
surroundings.  You  are  a fool,  or  worse,  if  you  do  not 
bear  a hand  in  that  struggle  and  take  care  of  the  most 


4 


precious  possession  the  Almighty  has  permitted  to 
come  into  your  keeping. 

Or,  you  may  find  that  the  teacher  is  unworthy  of 
companionship  with  a well-bred  child  and  incapable 
of  teaching  him.  The  child  may  know  many  things 
which  it  is  very  important  to  know  better  than  the 
teacher  knows  them.  The  child  may  shrink  from 
association  with  the  teacher  for  reasons  which  you 
can  readily  see:  or,  the  teacher  may  be  a good  enough 
person,  and  ordinarily  is,  and  yet  may  not  know  how 
to  teach.  You  have  learned  something  of  what 
teaching  is.  You  know  that  before  a child  can  he 
taught  he  must  come  into  agreeable  and  self-respect- 
ing relations  with,  the  teacher,  and  you  see  that 
this  is  impossible.  You  know,  also,  that  before  the 
school  can  he  of  any  permanent  advantage  to  the 
child,  there  must  he  originality,  elasticity,  and  free- 
dom on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  and  you  see  that  these 
are  either  not  present,  or  not  presented. 

The  situation  preys  upon  your  mind.  Your  child 
is  involved.  Its  physical  and  mental  health  are  at 
stake.  You  seek  redress.  Going  to  the  teacher,  you 
see  that  she  is  not  disposed,  or  is  not  allowed,  to  hold 
much  converse  with  you.  She  refers  you  to  the  prin- 
cipal.' He  means  rightly,  hut  does  not  view  things 
through  your  end  of  the  telescope.  He  resents  your 
imputations  or  is  powerless  to  give  you  relief.  You 
might  as  well  go  down  to  the  sea  and  talk  to  the 
waves.  You  go  to  the  superintendent.  At  times  he 
can  help  you,  and  if  he  can  he  will;  hut  again,  he 
would  have  to  walk  right  into  the  jaws  of  official 
death  to  redress  your  wrongs.  He  has  met  many  an- 
other on  a similar  errand.  He  sympathizes  with  you. 
He  will  treat  you  with  civility,  with  patience,  and 
with  diplomacy.  l7ou  may  rely  upon  it  that  he  will 
refrain  from  telling  you  all  he  knows.  Your 
troubles  grow  and  your  exasperation  waxes  yet 


5 


stronger.  You  go  to  the  members  of  the  board,  of 
education,  only  to  find  that  they  dispute  your  allega- 
tions, shuffle  out  of  the  responsibility,  are  unable  or 
unwilling  to-  afford  relief. 

By  this  time  you  have  realized  that  there  are  some 
serious  difficulties  encompassing  the  public  school 
system,  and  that  the  officers  of  the  schools  are  farther 
from  the  citizens’  reach  than  you  had  supposed.  It 
is  much  more  of  a.  matter  than  you  had  imagined  to 
secure  public  instruction  for  your  child  under  condi- 
tions which  will  promote  his  physical,  mental,  and 
moral  health.  You  may  be  able  to  pay  twice  for  his 
schooling,  but  you  are  not  able  to  submit  serenely  to 
an  imposition  inflicted  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  good 
by  a government  which  you  have  always  supposed  you 
had  a part  in  directing.  This  will  lead  you  to  think 
a little  more  deeply.  You  must  have  some  rights  in 
this  matter.  Not  only  taxation  and  representation 
go  together;  taxation  and  rights  go  together.  And 
what  is  the  right  of  the  citizen  in  the  public  schools? 
It  certainly  is  not  the  mere  privilege  of  paying  for 
their  support,  or  of  voting  for  persons  who  select 
other  persons  who  appoint  still  other  persons  to 
manage  the  business  and  teach  the  schools.  The 
sum  of  the  citizen’s  right  in  the  schools  is  to  have  the 
business  managed  prudently  and  wisely,  and  the 
children  taught  sensibly  and  scientifically.  And 
when  this  right  is  violated  and  there  are  no  adequate 
and  ready  means  of  redress,  the  system  is  in  danger 
of  breaking,  and  it  ought  to  break. 

The  officers  and  teachers  of  the  schools  will  say 
and  think  that  such  troubles  are  not  common,  but 
citizens  of  intelligence  who  give  these  matters  atten- 
tion, and  parents  who  see  the  results  of  the  schools 
in  the  lives  of  their  children,  will  say  that  they  are 
common.  The  point  of  vision  necessarily  has  much 
to  do  with  the  outlook.  It  would  be  better  if  the 


points  of  vision  conld  be  exchanged  now  and  then. 
The  troubles  which  I have  indicated  are  not  rare  in 
large  cities.  They  are  so  common  that  they  have 
already  exerted  a powerful  influence  to  drive  the 
well-to-do  people  out  of  relations  with  the  common 
schools.  And  by  the  well-to-do  I do  not  mean  the 
independently  rich,  but  the  great,  self-respecting, 
comfortable  class,  who  earn  their  living  and  pay  their 
debts,  who  have  made  homes  which  are  both  depend- 
ent and  independent,  and  who  give  substance  and 
balance  to  the  social  and  governmental  organization. 
If  the  time  comes  when  the  common  schools  are  sus- 
tained only  or  mainly  to  keep  the  foreigners  and  the 
slums  from  destroying  us,  then  the  character  of  the 
schools  and  the  chief  glory  of  the  American  plan  of 
government  and  of  education  will  be  gone;  for  that 
plan  contemplates  the  intellectual  and  moral  ad- 
vancement of  the  whole  mass  as  much  as  individual 
and  physical  security.  If  we  permit  the  schools  to 
become  the  schools  of  the  poor  alone,  we  permit  what 
we  have  struggled  heroically  to  prevent  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  government, — what  in  each  genera- 
tion we  have  succeeded  in  preventing  through 
radical  changes  in  our  plans  and  theories.  I believe 
we  shall  succeed  again,  but  I likewise  believe  that 
our  great  system  of  public  free  schools  is  being  put 
to  its  crucial  test  in  the  great  cities  of  the  land. 

Now,  what  is  causing  this  trouble?  You  will  an- 
ticipate me,  but  in  a few  sentences  I will  try  to  state 
the  causes: — 

1.  The  conditions  of  life  become  more  diversified 
and  more  intense  in  the  great  cities,  and  it  is  there- 
fore more  difficult  to  hold  the  children  in  common 
association. 

2.  The  demands  upon  a teaching  force,  by  reason 
of  the  large  schools,  the  widely  different  circum- 
stances of  the  children,  the  many  branches  taught. 


and  the  better  knowledge  of  many  parents  as  to  what 
constitutes  good  teaching,  are  much  greater  than  in 
smaller  places;  while  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  se- 
curing a teaching  force  of  reasonable  social  standing 
and  adequate  teaching  power  are  also  unfortunately 
greater. 

3.  The  multiplication  of  numbers  in  the  teaching 
force,  and  particularly  the  extent  to  which  inexperi- 
enced and  unprepared  persons  are  received  into  it, 
and  the  practical  impossibility  of  getting  rid  of  in- 
efficient teachers,  make  it  necessary  to  impose  severe 
limitations  upon  the  freedom  of  the  whole  force  in 
order  to  prevent  the  useless  ones  from  doing  harm. 
This  stifles  individuality,  which  is  the  essence  of  good 
teaching. 

4.  The  amount  of  money  paid  to  support  the 
schools  of  a great  city  sharpens  the  cupidity  of  the 
non-productive  sponges  and  cormorants  of  society. 
There  is  greater  opportunity  and  keener  appetite  for 
.plunder.  The  spirit  of  misrule  common  in  the  mu- 
nicipal government  in  our  large  cities  springs  from 
social  and  political  conditions.  The  people  are  more 
generous  and  alert  about  the  management  of  the 
schools  than  about  the  business  affairs  of  their  city 
housekeeping,  but  the  same  general  conditions  affect 
the  schools. 

5.  The  plan  of  organization  and  the  system  of  ad- 
ministration have  become  altogether  inadequate  to 
affairs  of  so  great  magnitude.  The  business  has  out- 
grown the  organization  for  managing  it.  In  primi- 
tive times  you  can  manage  affairs  without  much  re- 
gard to  fundamental  principles,  because  every  one 
has  knowledge  of  what  is  going  on,  and  mistakes  can 
be  quickly  seen  and  corrected,  but  it  is  not  so  in  great 
enterprises.  In  our  great  city  school  systems  there 
is  little  distinction  between  legislative  and  executive 
functions,  no  centralization  of  responsibility  and 


8 


accountability.  Novices  are  toying  with  high 
powers  of  government  and  managing  vast  properties, 
before  which  the  most  experienced  and  conservative 
stand,  in  awe.  There  is  but  little  appreciation  of  the 
difficulties  of  developing  a competent,  right-spirited, 
self-respecting  teaching  force,  and  the  temple  is  being 
profaned  by  money  changers.  The  organization  is  so 
constituted  that  it  resists  the  contributing  citizen 
looking  for  live  teaching  for  his  children,  more  than 
the  poor  unfortunate  who  is  in  quest  of  a place,  or  the 
pillager  who  is  looking  for  plunder. 

Now,  I must  exploit  these  troubles  in  the  two  most 
important  directions  before  discussing  the  remedies. 
Your  city  is  expending  millions  of  dollars  each  year 
upon  the  schools.  The  wise  and  safe  expenditure  of 
this  money,  so  that  it  shall  secure  the  ends  which  the 
people  who  give  it  have  the  right  to  demand,  places 
a tremendous  responsibility  somewhere.  The  busi- 
ness operations  incident  thereto  are  involved  and  in- 
numerable. Integrity,  expertness,  experience,  and 
alertness  are  all  imperative,  or  the  money  is  filched, 
and  the  ends  for  which  it  was  raised  are  defeated. 
The  city  owns  millions  upon  millions  of  real  estate  de- 
voted to  school  purposes.  It  is  putting  in  millions 
more  each  year.  Some  of  us  know  how  difficult  it  is 
to  care  for  a small  interest  in  real  estate  where  our 
own  self-interest  is  sufficient  to  make  us  attend  to  it. 
IIow  infinitely  more  involved  is  the  problem  of  main- 
taining in  good  physical  and  healthful  condition  hun- 
dreds of  buildings  subject  to  the  hard  usage  which 
falls  upon  schoolhouses!  Then,  there  is  the  matter 
of  selecting  new  sites  and  erecting  new  buildings. 
The  first  calls  for  ripe  judgment  as  to  the  probable 
directions  of  the  city’s  growth;  the  last  calls  for  all 
the  good  qualities  in  the  heavens  above,  as  well  as 
upon  the  earth  beneath,  to  prevent  fraud  and  secure 


9 


to  the  people  what  belongs  to  them.  The  whole  busi- 
ness is  encompassed  by  self-seekers. 

You  might  as  well  turn  the  banks  of  the  city  over 
to  the  ward  primaries  and  expect  to  keep  them  out  of 
the  hands  of  receivers,  or  let  political  committees 
name  the  directors  of  the  railroads  and  expect  trains 
to  run  upon  time  and  dividends  to  be  paid  on  quarter 
days,  as  to  put  all  of  this  vast  business  of  the  schools 
into  inexperienced  hands,  chosen  in  a similar  way, 
and  expect  it  to  be  conservatively  and  safely  managed, 
so  that  you  will  not  be  robbed  and  your  schools  will 
be  properly  housed. 

If  it  is  difficult  to  manage  the  business  of  the 
schools,  it  is  infinitely  more  so  to  secure  life-giving 
instruction.  It  is  strange  that  we  need  to  remind 
ourselves  now  and  then  that  the  end  for  which  the 
schools  exist  is  not  to  gratify  contractors  or  provide 
places,  but  to  supply  instruction.  If  anything  has 
stood  in  the  way  of  the  fullest  development  of  the 
schools,  it  has  been  apparent  readiness  to  accept  every- 
thing that  passed  under  the  name  of  instruction;  and 
the  most  gratifying  sign  in  the  educational  heavens 
is  the  closer  discrimination  with  which  the  people  are 
beginning  to  look  upon  what  is  done  in  the  schools. 
And  when  the  people  begin  to  determine  the  differ- 
ing values  of  instruction  they  come  to  the  great  ques- 
tion of  the  organization  and  supervision  of  the  teach- 
ing force. 

There  are  more  persons  who  want  to  teadh  school 
than  there  are  schools  to  be  taught.  All  the  world 
sympathizes  with  the  young  persons  who  are  trying 
to  be  respectable  and  are  looking  for  honorable  em- 
ployment. All  of  the  well-disposed  will  help  such 
persons  to  places  when  they  can,  without  much  refer- 
ence to  adaptation  to  position.  They  think,  and  not 
strangely,  that  the  other  people  must  look  out  for 


10 


that.  This  is  markedly  so  if  the  young  person  is  a 
young  woman. 

We  must  take  one  course  or  the  other  in  regard  to 
the  teaching  service  of  the  public  schools.  We  may 
stand  indifferent  and  let  church  politicians,  club  poli- 
ticians, school  politicians,  or  politicians  who  are  not 
described  by  a qualifying  adjective,  neighbors, 
friends,  or  relatives,  push  people  with  no  fibre  and 
little  preparation  into  teacher’s  positions.  We  may 
pay  little  heed  to  culture  and  social  standing;  leave 
the  force  with  little  intellectual  nourishment  and  no 
inspiration;  promise  a life-tenure  to  all  who  get  in, 
regardless  of  qualification  or  spirit;  exert  little  con- 
trol and  leave  the  members  of  the  body  to  combine 
for  selfish  ends  and  defy  the  best  sentiment  of  the 
people  whose  most  precious  interests  they  are  osten- 
sibly chosen  to  promote.  We  all  know  what  the  re- 
sult will  be.  With  the  passing  years  there  will  be  no 
growth  in  scholarship,  or  general  culture,  or  force  of 
character,  or  disciplinary  power,  or  teaching  ability. 
Without  such  growth  there  can  be,  of  course,  no  pub- 
lic school  progress.  Iron-clad  rules  will  be  imposed 
to  keep  up  a show  of  authority  and  prevent  marked 
excesses,  but  the  schools  will  have  little  vitality  and 
less  respect,  the  teaching  will  be  woodeny,  and  mat- 
ters may  be  expected  to  grow  worse  and  worse,  with 
the  certainty  of  not  being  disappointed. 

Or,  we  may  guard  admissions,  train  beginners,  lead 
and  inspire  the  common  thought,  pay  according  to  the 
expertness  of  service,  promote  upon  the  basis  of  merit, 
expel  the  undeserving,  and  envelop  the  whole  vast 
enterprise  in  a professional  atmosphere,  and  energize 
it  with  pedagogical  life.  Then  we  may  relax  rules, 
encourage  originality  without  danger,  and  expect 
that  the  spirit  of  the  force  will  improve;  that  the 
teachers  will  stand  higher  in  the  sentiment  of  the  city;’ 
that  there  will  be  kindness  in  the  management  and 


11 


life  in  the  instruction;  that  the  children  will  be  fas- 
cinated, and  that  their  minds  and  souls  will  thrill 
‘with  new  life,  which  will  be  felt  in  the  homes  and 
give  substantial  and  enduring  support  to  the  better 
life  of  the  city. 

There  is  no  problem  of  larger  proportions  than 
that  of  supervising  and  leading  a teaching  force 
numbering  thousands  of  persons.  The  object  is  not 
to  secure  some  good  teaching;  that  could  hardly  be 
avoided;  it  is  to  prevent  all  bad  teaching.  This  de- 
pends upon  the  individuality  of  each  teacher  and  the 
harmony  and  enthusiasm  of  the  whole  body.  The 
superintendents  office  must  know  the  qualities  of 
every  teacher  in  the  system.  High  school  diplomas, 
college  diplomas,  normal  diplomas,  give  but  inade- 
quate assurance  of  good  teaching.  Adaptation  is  all- 
important;  the  spirit  is  vital.  The  superintendents 
office  must  not  only  inspect,  it  must  lead.  It  must  be 
considerate  and  sympathetic,  helpful  and  inspiring. 
It  must  have  authority  and  it  must  act  justly.  Ap- 
pointments, and  promotions,  and  dismissals  must  be 
made  with  a clear  head,  a kind  heart,  and  a strong 
hand,  without  fear  or  favor,  but  with  a determination 
to  prevent  all  bad  teaching  and  lift  the  whole  force  to 
the  highest  plane  possible.  It  is  truly  surprising  how 
the  common  sentiment  of  a teaching  force  fixes  the 
status  of  each  of  its  own  members,  and  how  surely  that 
sentiment  knows  whether  the  acts  of  officials  spring 
from  merit  or  from  influence.  In  one  case  the  force 
will  be  without  energy,  self-confidence,  steadiness,  or 
public  respect.  In  the  other  case  it  will  be  character- 
ized by  fraternal  respect  and  mutual  regard,  and  it 
will  show  power  and  versatility,  which  will  uplift  the 
life  and  shape  the  character  of  the  city. 

Xow,  how  is  all  this  to  be  brought  about?  Well, 
I think  I know  enough  about  it  to  be  confident  in  the 
opinion  that  it  cannot  be  effected  without  a radical 


12 


change  in  plan  and  organization.  The  whole  plan 
must  be  rearranged  so  that  the  citizen  who  finds  a 
child  in  an  unwholesome  schoolroom,  or  under  a 
clumsy  or  dyspeptic  teacher,  can  go  down  town  and 
find  the  man  who  is  responsible  for  it,  and  who  can 
cure  the  trouble  in  a day.  It  must  be  so  readjusted 
that  officials  shall  he  required  to  do  things  which 
they  may  be  supposed  to  he  capable  of  doing,  and  kept 
from  meddling  with  matters  about  which  they  know 
little  and  cannot  learn  much  for  years.  The  system 
must  he  SO'  organized  that  officials  of  whom  great 
things  are  expected  will  have  opportunity  and  en- 
couragement to  do  good  work,  and  will  he  able  to  see 
the  results  of  capable  and  conscientious  work  and  get 
something  of  the  reward  therefor  in  the  esteem  of 
the  people  about  them. 

There  is  no  good  reason  why  the  cities  of  New  York, 
or  Philadelphia,  or  Chicago  should  not  save  money  in 
school  expenses  and  at  the  same  time  see  the  physical 
condition  of  the  property  improve,  the  financial 
statement  look  healthier,  and  the  teaching  advanced 
in  quality  and  tone,  if  they  would  make  a school  or- 
ganization in  accord  with  the  principles  which  the 
world’s  experiences  have  shown  to  be  imperative  to 
the  conduct  of  all  good  enterprises  and  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  rights  of  the  people  who  are  interested  in 
those  enterprises. 

Let  me  indicate  the  specific  steps  which  I think 
should  be  taken.  First,  the  school  board  should  be  a 
legislative  body  only  and  have  no  executive  functions. 
It  should  not  be  so  large  in  numbers  as  to  become  a 
public  debating  school.  It  should  be  representative 
of  the  whole  city,  and  by  no  committee  assignments, 
or  other  official  action,  should  members  become  in- 
terested in,  or  representative  of,  one  section  more  than 
another.  It  should  legislate  upon  the  policy  and 
general  development  of  the  school  system,  and  it 


13 


should  control,  in  a general  way,  the  expenditures,  so 
far  as  to  make  provision  for  the  buildings  and  their 
care,  and  for  a needed  number  of  teachers  and  their 
suitable  compensation.  All  of  its  a6ts  should  be  ex- 
pressed by  resolutions  in  its  published  records.  But 
it  should  have  nothing  to  do  with  letting  contracts 
or  making  appointments,  at  least  beyond  seeing  that 
expenditures  are  within  appropriations,  and  beyond 
naming  its  own  clerk  and  the  best  available  men  for 
heads  of  the  two  great  departments  of  which  I shall 
immediately  speak. 

All  details  of  administration  should  be  separated 
into  two  great  executive  departments;  one  to  manage 
the  business  affairs  and  the  other  the  instruction. 
The  heads  of  these  departments  may  he  appointed  by 
the  board,  but  their  terms  should  be  long  and  per- 
haps indefinite,  and  their  powers  should  be  wholly 
independent  and  fully  prescribed  by  statute. 

The  business  department  should  have  charge  of  all 
the  property  interests  of  the  system.  It  should  make 
the  contracts  and  see  to  their  execution,  appoint  jani- 
tors and  remove  them,  and  be  held  responsible  for  the 
condition  of  the  property.  The  head  of  this  depart- 
ment must  be  a business  man  of  good  experience  and 
well-known  independence  and  probity,  who  is 
strongly  s}unpathetic  with  the  noble  ends  for  which 
the  public  schools  stand. 

The  department  of  instruction  should  be  headed  by 
a superintendent  who  is  an  expert  in  pedagogical 
science  and  in  administration.  He  should  have  ab- 
solute power  of  appointment,  assignment  to  position 
and  removal  of  teachers,  and  sufficient  assistance  to 
have  full  and  constant  knowledge  of  what  is  being 
done  in  every  schoolroom  in  the  city.  Whether  the 
law  provides  for  it  or  not,  he  and  his  assistants  will 
act  as  a board.  This  board  will  not  be  a body  danger- 
ous to  the  liberties  of  a free  people.  There  will  not 


14 


be  one  chance  of  their  doing  injustice  to  a teacher,  to 
a hundred  chances  that  they  will  leave  undone  dis- 
agreeable things  which  should  be  done  in  the  inter- 
ests of  better  teaching.  The  superintendent  and  his 
advisers  should  be  placed  in  dignified  positions. 
They  should  be  men  and  women  with  a teacher’s 
kindly  nature  and  kingly  spirit,  who  are  capable  of 
upholding  the  dignity  of  their  positions,  and  they 
should  be  as  secure  in  those  positions  as  the  members 
of  the  supreme  court  of  the  state. 

The  affairs  of  the  school  should  be  wholly  sepa- 
rated from  municipal  business  and  the  school  organi- 
zation should  have  no  connection  whatever  with  mu- 
nicipal politics.  There  is  no  ground  for  any  connec- 
tion between  the  two.  The  public  school  system  rests 
upon  the  taxing  power  of  the  state,  and  that  is  wholly 
within  the  control  of  the  law-making  power.  The 
state  is  bound  to  see  that  schools  are  maintained  in 
every  part  of  the  state.  The  school  system  is  a state 
system  administered  in  the  American  fashion  through 
representatives  chosen  by  the  people  in  their  local 
assemblages,  or  in  any  other  way  the  state  may  direct. 
•But  these  officers  do  not  cease  to  be  representatives  of 
a state  system,  and  there  is  every  reason  why  their 
tenure  and  their  powers  should  be  wholly  independent 
of  municipal  boards  and  officers. 

How  shall  the  school  board  be  chosen?  Ah!  that 
is  the  great  question.  If  such  a plan  of  organization 
as  we  have  been  considering  is  adopted,  that  question 
loses  some  of  its  significance,  however.  Troubles  in 
school  administration  seldom  come  from  the  presence 
of  vicious  characters  on  school  boards;  they  arise  from 
a confusion  of  powers  and  prerogatives,  and  from  a 
disposition  which  men  seem  to  have,  to  direct  matters 
the  most  about  which  they  know  the  least.  When 
powers  are  based  upon  principles,  the  troubles  will 
largely  disappear.  Nevertheless,  I do  not  forget  the 


Greek  maxim:  “No  law  is  a good  law  unless  it  has 
good  executors.”  It  is  for  the  people  of  each  com- 
munity to  ask  the  legislature  to  open  the  way  which 
promises  to  result  in  the  selection  of  citizens  who  are 
represen tatiye  of  the  thrift  and  energy,  the  best 
thought  and  the  higher  life  of  the  city,  as  members  of 
the  board  of  education. 

In  a word,  we  are  to  take  the  general  course  which 
experience  leads  all  intelligent  people  to  take  con- 
cerning the  administration  of  great  enterprises,  in 
order  to  justify  the  theories  upon  which  they  are 
acting,  and  make  sure  of  the  ends  for  which  they  are 
striving.  We  must  do  all  business  upon  a business 
basis.  We  must  departmentalize  the  work;  build  up 
the  administrative  organization  on  bed-rock  prin- 
ciples; confer  needed  authority  upon  officials,  give 
them  positions  of  character  and  dignity,  afford  them 
security,  direct  their  proceedings  by  law,  and  punish 
them  if  they  disregard  the  directions.  There  are 
men  and  women  who  will  not  scramble  for  these  posi- 
tions, but  who  would  fill  them  capably  and  conscien- 
tiously; and  they  can  be  found.  It  is  for  the  sub- 
stantial sentiment  of  the  city  to  tear  doiwn  social, 
religious,  political,  and  all  other  kinds  of  fences,  bring 
contributing  citizens  together,  lay  aside  everything 
but  the  common  good,  lay  plans  which  are  more  scien- 
tific and  find  representatives  to  carry  them  orut. 

It  is  well  that  we  should  all  recall  the  one  great  aim 
of  the  public  school  system;  it  is  to  hold  us  together, 
secure  the  safety  of  a wide-open  suffrage,  and  assure 
the  progress  of  the  whole  population.  Child  study, 
entrance  requirements,  and  all  the  other  things  which 
we  are  discussing  in  our  educational  conventions,  are 
only  incidental.  We  are  not  to  proffer  gifts  to  the 
people  nor  hold  them  down  by  great  armies.  The 
law-making  power  is  to  enable  them  to  educate  them- 
selves. The  public  school  system  is  our  protection. 


3 0112  061441173 

16 


We  must  not  forget  what  a vast  undertaking  our  ex- 
periment in  government  really  is.  We  must  not 
shut  our  eyes  to  the  world’s  experience.  History 
does  not  record  a similar  experiment  which  has  been 
permanently  successful.  The  public  school  system  is 
the  one  institution  which  is  more  completely  repre- 
sentative of  the  American  plan,  spirit,  and  purpose 
than  any  other  we  have.  It  can  continue  to  he  the 
instrument  of  our  security  and  the  star  of  our  hope 
only  so  long  as  it  continues  to  hold  the  interest  and 
confidence  of  all  the  people  whose  interest  and  con- 
fidence are  material  to  its  support. 

There  is  not  so  much  occasion  to  worry  about  the 
foreigners.  They  assimilate  with  our  people  with 
remarkable  facility.  As  a rule  they  are  anxious  for 
education  for  their  children.  The  schools  translate 
their  children  in  three  or  four  years.  If  you  doubt 
it,  investigate  and  you  will  see.  The  slums  are  not 
much  of  a menace  to  the  safety  of  the  republic;  the 
police  will  hold  them  in  check  whenever  the  necessity 
arises,  if  there  is  civic  spirit  enough  to  keep  the  police 
right.  But  the  great  industrial  and  professional 
class  of  American  citizens  must  he  satisfied  with  what 
is  done  in  the  schools,  and  they  are  not  going  to  he, 
and  they  ought  not  to  he,  easily  satisfied.  They  will 
have  healthful  schoolhouses,  they  will  have  a cur- 
riculum with  less  confusion  in  it,  and  they  will  have 
clean-cut,  scientific  teaching  by  persons  with  whom 
they  are  glad  to  have  their  children  come  in  contact, 
and  whom  they  would  he  glad  to  see  in  their  homes, 
or  this  public  school  system,  with  its  enormous  cost, 
will  go  to  the  wall.  It  is  the  ark  of  our  safety.  The 
alternative  is  impossible. 


